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Effective leadership is essential for public, nonprofit, and for-profit professionals and organizations to thrive in constantly changing environments. But how does someone gain the skills and training necessary without putting the rest of their life on hold?

Ebony Rose Frazier, who works for King County, had built a solid career, but wanted to take that next step to help her organization meet their expansive mission. Frazier’s organization has a wide range of stakeholders from law enforcement and health care organizations to local governments and the general public. It’s a balancing act that requires practical skills, adaptive strategies, and constant learning.

Frazier decided to take her colleagues’ advice and enroll in the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy & Governance’s Executive Master of Public Administration program.

The program didn’t waste her time. With an accelerated 18-month schedule, it’s designed with the time constraints of working midcareer professionals in mind.

“The EMPA program allowed me to continue working while I earned my degree,” Frazier says. “Working and learning simultaneously allowed me to immediately apply the practices learned inside the classroom to my job right away.”

Ranked No. 4 nationally, the Evans School’s innovative EMPA program combines theory with practice, allowing students to apply coursework directly to the organizational challenges faced in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. These are real lessons with real-world applicability.

There’s no busy work or games, just real opportunities to refine and grow leadership skill sets.

“The EMPA program gave me a framework,” Frazier says. “I could step out on the proverbial balcony, map my authorizing environment, and create actionable proposals for changes within my work group. Since completing the program, I’ve submitted memos to my supervisor that detailed ideas about how to decrease overtime, counter inefficiencies, and expand my working group’s contribution to the organization.”

Take the next step in your own education and career. Learn more about how the Evans School’s top-ranked Executive MPA program can help you advance your career by visiting evans.uw.edu/executive and registering for an upcoming EMPA information session.